Category: Bonds

Although some advisors today may foresee themselves never recommending crypto investments, the last thing they should want is to look like “a deer in headlights” should a client ask about digital assets. So said Don Friedman, president of the professional group Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals, on the first day of Financial Planning’s INVEST:…

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has announced the members of its fiscal year 2023 Compliance Advisory Group, the sixth consecutive year that members of the municipal market will be volunteering to provide compliance clarification and assistance for the board’s group. “The Compliance Advisory Group plays a critical role in providing MSRB staff with valuable insight…

Pennsylvania is coming to market Tuesday with what’s considered the largest private activity bonds surface transportation allocation to date as part of a high-profile public private program to rebuild bridges across the commonwealth. The $1.88 billion of tax-exempt PABs will finance the first, and largest, phase of the Major Bridges P3 Initiative. The state is…

A central valley California not-for-profit hospital had $218 million of revenue bonds downgraded to junk by Moody’s Investors Service after a really bad third quarter. Kaweah Delta Health Care District had its revenue bond rating downgraded to Ba1 from A3; and the district’s overall rating has been placed under review for downgrade, Moody’s said. The…

Municipals were weaker on the short end Friday ahead of a smaller new-issue calendar made up largely of a Pennsylvania public-private partnership deal. U.S. Treasuries saw losses along the curve and equities ended the week in the red as markets digested more mixed economic data ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week…

New York state is expected to issue three downstate casino licenses in the first half of 2023, with the facilities operating two years after, bringing a financial boon to the state and the winners. Already, the state has seen more than $500 million of revenue through early November from online gambling, which made its debut…

Two influential members of the Senate Banking Committee introduced legislation Friday that would subject the Federal Reserve System to greater transparency requirements. The bill from Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., would classify the Fed’s 12 regional reserve banks as federal agencies under the Freedom of Information Act and the Federal Records Act. …

Martin Arrick, a longtime healthcare analyst, has been hired by Build America Mutual to head a program to increase coverage and analytical capability for insuring nonprofit hospital systems. Arrick was formerly a managing director and healthcare group leader for S&P Global Ratings. He retired in early 2020, one month before the pandemic, after having been…

Municipals were little changed in secondary trading while the return of mutual fund inflows led by high-yield and a $770 million notes deal from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority took focus. U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended in the black. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 60%, the five-year at 67%, the 10-year…

Broker-dealers concerned about increasingly complex compliance issues may benefit from a new strategic alliance formed between the Bond Dealers of America and the Regional Fixed Income Best Practices Group, which was formerly known as the Regional Municipal Operations Association.  “The RFIBPG is now a division of the BDA, similar to the BDA’s Bond Pricing Institute,”…

What are the obstacles and opportunities surrounding ESG? How will inflation and labor shortages impact the IIJA? What does new tech, crypto and AI mean for electronic trading? The municipal finance community has a lot of questions going into 2023. Don’t miss the chance to get them answered at NATIONAL OUTLOOK on February 2, 2023.

The Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority issued $1.245 billion of restructured bonds and took other steps to enact its approved plan of adjustment Tuesday. The HTA plan of adjustment reduces HTA’s $6.4 billion of total claims by more than 80%. According to its terms, holders of $4.3 billion of HTA bonds get today’s $1.245…

The public-private partnership between Red River Valley Alliance and the Metro Flood Diversion Authority won The Bond Buyer’s 21st annual Deal of the Year award for its bonds issued through the Public Finance Authority to reduce local flooding risk.  The issuance, which was the Deal of the Year in the P3 category, was one component…

In an effort to combat “oil companies’ excess profits,” Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a “price gouging” penalty. Lawmakers began discussion of the proposal on Monday, the first day of a special session convened by Newsom. Given the upcoming holidays, lawmakers are not expected to debate the merits of the proposal at length until January when…

For the second time this year, the trustee of bonds issued for the American Dream Mall in New Jersey drew down a reserve account to make a debt payment on $800 million of tax-exempt municipal bonds. Trustee U.S. Bank said in a notice to bondholders posted on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA bond disclosure…

Salem, Oregon, officials plan to ask a judge to validate an infrastructure bond measure approved by voters in November’s election, that is in limbo because an essential paragraph explaining how bonds would be repaid was left off the ballot measure. City leaders revealed Thursday that the sentence required by statute was missing from the ballot…

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority willfully violated the state’s Open Meeting Act when it failed to disclose a $5 billion, bond-financed extension plan on meeting agendas earlier this year, according to the first major ruling in litigation seeking to derail the project. Cleveland County District Court Judge Timothy Olsen ruled Thursday that OTA agendas for January…

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority fuel line lenders reached a deal with the Oversight Board that would give them priority over bondholders’ treatment in the authority’s debt restructuring. The fuel line lenders’ $700 million claim would receive new PREPA bonds, the board said Thursday night in announcing the deal. “The principal to be paid on…

A top-rated Texas program that guarantees public school bonds may be nearing a shutdown after its projected available capacity fell to just $653 million at the end of October.  The big drop from $3.52 billion at the end of September comes amid a huge wave of voter-approved school debt in the state. The Texas Permanent…

Flood-stricken Kentucky counties still struggling to repair water networks are set to receive $10.6 million in federal assistance to help turn the taps back on, Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press conference Thursday. “Water and sewage infrastructure will be the largest cost of rebuilding,” Beshear said, revealing the state’s most recent damage assessment for…